ECCJ - European Coalition for Corporate Justice
GARDE is a member of the executive committee that represents the Czech Republic in the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ).
ECCJ is an initiative from 16 European organisation. ECCJ is led by a steering group composed of Friends of the Earth Europe, SOMO, IRENE, Hivos, CORE UK, Forum Citoyen pour la RSE, Manitese, Germanwatch, GARDE, Observatorio de RSC. It is funded primarily through a European Commission grant, as well as through member contributions.
ECCJ's vision:
Our vision is of a sustainable world in which corporations’ drive for profit is balanced by the interest of society at large and respects human, social and environmental rights. To ensure such a vision, we are convinced that legally enforceable mechanisms based on internationally agreed standards and principles in the areas of human, social and environmental rights are necessary to reverse the unsustainable impacts of business activities.
6 principles for CORPORATE JUSTICE:
• Corporate Justice should be based on internationally agreed standards and principles in the areas of human rights and social, labour, environmental and economic standards for corporate behaviour.
• Although voluntary initiatives can be successful in some cases, regulatory measures are necessary to ensure all corporations abide by national and internationally agreed standards, whichever provides the higher standard.
• Stakeholders’ rights are fundamental to Corporate Justice. They are required for stakeholders to hold companies to account for their impacts and for the duties of companies and their directors. A basic prerequisite is the existence of systematic internal and external dialogue processes. Stakeholders should be involved from the early stages of strategy and policy development.
• Corporate Accountability initiatives can only be effective and credible if they include mechanisms for independent monitoring and verification of their claims, and mechanisms of redress for those affected by corporate activities.
• Corporate Justice requires high and consistent levels of transparency of business activities and products. This implies mandatory social and environmental reporting, disclosure of payments, subsidies and lobbying vis-à-vis public authorities, and consumers’ and other stakeholders’ right to know about the production process, products and services.
• Improving business’s impact requires changes in companies’ core business activities, throughout their supply chain. It also requires responsible behaviour to be internalised throughout corporate governance, strategy, purchasing policies and business models in order to meet the standards set in existing agreements.
for further information please see www.corporatejustice.org
